


Down The Road, Around The Bend

by Jacie



Series: NCIS: Alpha Series [4]
Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-03
Updated: 2010-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-19 11:07:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/572600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their car breaks down, Ziva and McGee head back to the cottage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down The Road, Around The Bend

After sharing dinner at the cottage with Gibbs and DiNozzo, Ziva and McGee said their good-byes and headed down the dusty country road. They hadn’t gotten too far when the car puttered to a stop.

McGee flipped out his cell phone. “I could call information for a tow truck.”

Ziva glared at him. “It is a car, a machine. It can be fixed.”

McGee laughed easily, closing his phone. “What do you know about fixing cars?”

Ziva had already stepped from the car and popped the hood. “Surely more than you.”

Getting out of the passenger side, McGee joined Ziva in staring at the car’s engine. He watched as Ziva tested wires and connections. “See anything?”

“I see a lot of things, but nothing that would explain why the car stopped running.”

McGee flipped open his cell phone again, studying the display.

“I do not need a tow truck,” Ziva stubbornly insisted.

“I hope not. I’m not getting a signal out here.”

It was dark when Ziva finally gave up, only after McGee pointed out that she couldn’t possibly see what she was doing. McGee tried to get a cell phone signal one last time before he began walking down the road.

“McGee! Where are you going?”

“Back.”

“Back to where?”

“The cottage. I am not sleeping in your car when they have a warm cottage with three extra beds.”

Standing firmly in the middle of the road, Ziva planted her hands on his hips. “We were not invited to stay with them.”

As the distance between them widened, McGee raised his voice to be heard. “It gets cold out here at night. They’ll understand,” he called loudly. Before she answered, he mumbled more softly, “And they have food, indoor plumbing, heat.”

Running to catch up, Ziva matched McGee’s pace. “It would not be right for me to let you be the third wheel. I will go with you.”

“Thank you, Ziva. I feel much safer now.”

“Are you making the funny pokes at me, McGee?”

“No, not at all. No funny poking from me.”

They hadn’t walked more than a mile when they saw headlights coming toward them. When the car pulled over, they saw it was Gibbs. “What happened to your car?”

Leaning close to Gibbs’ car window, McGee smiled happily. “Glad to see you, Boss. The car broke down. We were hoping you and Tony would reconsider letting us stay overnight.”

“Sure, hop in.”

“Where are you going?” Ziva asked. “Where is Tony?”

“Tony is back at the cottage and I am heading out for more supplies.”

“The cottage is not far. We can walk,” said Ziva, already moving away from the car.

Gibbs looked into McGee’s eyes and nodded toward the passenger seat. “Hop in. If you two are staying, you’ll need a couple things.”

“Yeah?”

“Unless you guys carry toothbrushes in your pockets that I don’t know about.” 

Thoughts raced through McGee’s mind, quickly calculating that Gibbs was correct in his assessment. After he settled into the passenger seat, Gibbs continued down the road, back toward the nearest town until they came across a small country convenience store. Gibbs filled the gas tank, then headed inside. 

McGee was just setting his things onto the counter when Gibbs walked up behind him, adding a twelve pack of beer, a tube of lube and a box of condoms to the pile. “Put it together,” he said as he handed his credit card to the cashier. He surveyed Tim’s purchases: two toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, a hair brush, comb, a package of trail mix and two large T-shirts, one blue, one pink, sporting images of the local lake. Gibbs smiled and took his card back from the cashier. “The blue shirt is mine,” he said as he signed the receipt.

Confusion flowed across McGee’s face until he looked as his purchases and Gibbs’ combined. “It’s not like that,” he said, looking at the cashier. “He’s joking around.”

Gibbs picked up the beer, lube and condoms while the cashier put McGee’s purchases into a bag. “Hurry up, Elf Lord, Papa Smurf wants his love muffin.”

“He’s kidding,” McGee said as he took the bag from the clerk and nearly ran out of the store. 

Ziva found Tony sitting on the front porch of the cottage when she arrived. Although he wore a shirt, he had left it unbuttoned as he sat drinking a beer. 

“Ziva? What happened? Where’s McGee?”

“We had car trouble. We were walking back when Gibbs passed us. McGee went with him to the store. I am certain they will be back soon.”

“Have a seat,” Tony said, motioning to an empty chair nearby. “Can I get you a beer?”

Taking a seat, Ziva nodded to Tony, then stared up at the night sky. “It is beautiful out here. So clear. So many stars.”

“Same amount of stars come out each night. Just easier to see them out here. As opposed to being in the city with all the lights.”

It only took a moment for Tony to grab a beer for Ziva and another one for himself. He smiled and opened both bottles, handing the first one to her. “Ziva, you seem troubled by this.”

“If you mean that I seem troubled by you and Gibbs sleeping together, you would be right.”

“We don’t need your permission. And we’re not asking for your approval. We’re both adults and if we want to pursue a relationship together that is our business and no one else’s.”

“You are wrong, Tony. That decision affects the entire team.”

Keeping his voice calm and soft, Tony leaned in toward her, expressing that he cared about her feelings. “It doesn’t have to.”

“How you can prevent that? It makes no sense to me.”

After taking a long drink of his beer, Tony looked Ziva in her eyes. “Gibbs and I have had a relationship since the day we met.”

“I know the story. You smiled at him and he offered you a job with NCIS.”

“That is true. Also true. But what I’m getting at is that we have had a working relationship since the day we met. Over the years that relationship developed. We worked as partners. We became friends. We’ve become closer and closer. This is no different. It’s just a new facet of that friendship.”

“Sex between two men is a lot different. It is not a natural development. This was a decision you both made.”

“One we made together. Not inevitable. We’re not gay. We both still like women.”

“Gibbs does not want a woman in his life?”

Tony took a deep breath and nodded. “He’s not sure he ever wants to get married again. And women tend to think that way. They want the home with a picket fence, the kids and a husband who comes home for dinner each night. That’s not Gibbs.”

“Or you.”

“My relationship with Jeanne opened my eyes. I wasn’t ready for it, but I loved her. I didn’t expect that to happen.”

“You let her go.”

“I had to. It only could have worked if I was someone else. I can’t change who I am. She loved Anthony DiNardo, College Professor, not Anthony DiNozzo, Special Agent. I couldn’t make her understand. I couldn’t make things right.”

“And you hurt her.”

Tony swallowed deeply and stared into the night. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to. It hurt me, too. I never thought I would fall like that. Didn’t think I could fall so hard, so fast.”

“And this makes it right? You are sleeping with Gibbs because you are afraid of hurting someone else? Or that they will hurt you?”

“It’s not that. I never thought I was ready for the ‘til death do you part thing. Never looked for it. When I fell in love with Jeanne, I saw that it could work, but not with me. Professor DiNardo and Doctor Benoit could have had a life together. I don’t know if I can go through that again.”

“Next time you will not be undercover. You can be yourself.”

“I can’t handle that.”

Unable to sit still any longer, Ziva rose to her feet, pacing across the porch, beer in hand. “Yes, you can,” she said as she leaned against the railing.

“I have to figure things out. I need to figure out why Jeanne was so different than the other women I’ve dated.”

“Grown woman, educated, sincere.”

“Okay, enough. Gibbs and I, we click together. Always have. Right now we need each other.”

“Sexually?”

“Yes. Sexually, emotionally. Who is closer to Gibbs than I am? Who is closer to me than Gibbs is? We both need physical contact and right now, neither of us wants to hurt anyone else. Would you rather we hired hookers?”

Ziva laughed aloud at the thought. 

Tony stood up, walking to her side. “We’re not asking for your approval or your acceptance. We just want the opportunity to be together. We’ve both been hurt. We need to heal. We can help each other, Gibbs and I. That’s all it is. We’re close friends who have decided to share intimacy. And that’s private. You, McGee and everyone else, you don’t need to be concerned with that part of the relationship. We’ll keep it behind closed doors. Just let us be best friends, to have someone we can talk to, be with, someone who understands.”

“This is not permanent, is it?”

“No, I don’t think so. Like Gibbs said, he’s not asked me to stop seeing women. He never said he would stop either. We just need each other right now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? All I know, is that we won’t hurt each other.”

Headlights cut through the night as Gibbs pulled the car close to the cottage and parked. 

McGee stepped onto the porch with his bag. “I got us toothbrushes and deodorant. And nightshirts. Oh, I got the number to the local garage from the clerk. We can call in the morning and have them come look at the car.”

Ziva nodded as she followed McGee into the cottage. Gibbs took a hold of Tony’s arm, stopping him as he leaned in close for a kiss before they joined the others inside.

Tony nodded toward the door, whispering, “You’re not going to make this easy on them, are you?”

Gibbs nearly melted Tony’s heart with a single smile. “Now what fun would that be?” he asked, his eyes sparkling, while his hand caressed Tony’s ass.

~~~End~~~  
January 3, 2010


End file.
